


The Art Of Teaching

by pasteldanhowells



Category: phanfiction - Fandom
Genre: AU, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, TeacherXTeacher, Work, artist, teacher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-02
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 12:18:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4478987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasteldanhowells/pseuds/pasteldanhowells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan used to be into art when he was in high school but stopped once he grew up but started again and now has a website where he sells his art for money. Phil is a principal at a high school, and nobody is aware that he has a husband, someone he’s been with since he was a teenager. Something happens to the art teacher so Phil offers Dan the job, and Dan takes it. Phil finally introduces Dan to the rest of the school as his husband.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a collab fic that I wrote with fluffygayprince on tumblr!

Another day of work done. Phil couldn’t be more happier that it was the weekend, he could get a little rest and relax with his husband at home. Today was especially stressful, because his art teacher had moved away and now he had to find a new teacher by Monday. But luckily, he did have a plan that would hopefully work. His husband had been doing art since he was a teen and he was incredibly talented at it, so much that he even had his own website and sold his art, which made tons of money. Phil was almost jealous at how good Dan was at art, but more proud.

Phil was a principal at his school’s town, Bridgewater High School. It’s been two years since he started this job and honestly, he’s been loving it. Luckily, everybody liked him so he enjoyed his job. Most people didn’t even know that he had a husband though, which was something that he would have to deal with if Dan would agree to take this job. Gay people were mostly supported around town, so he wasn’t too worried about it. He hoped it wouldn’t be a big deal.

“Dan?” Phil called as he walked into the flat, shutting the door behind him. He hoped that Dan would agree to do this art job, because if he didn’t- Phil didn’t know what he would do. His students wouldn’t have art class, and that just simply wouldn’t work. They needed an art teacher.

Dan looked up from his sketchbook when he heard his husband call his name, wondering what Phil needed. “I’m in the studio,” he called back excitedly, he really wanted to show Phil the new drawing he had been working. It was a new style he had read about some days ago, something about only using circles to make the whole drawing, and it worked out pretty well. It had taken some time to finish, obviously, but it was a drawing style he couldn’t wait to teach phil.

Phil smiled as soon as he heard the sound of his husband’s voice. He kicked his shoes off by the door and then he placed his suitcase down, taking off his jacket afterwards. He then made his way to the studio. He opened the door and walked in. “Hey, what are you up to?” he asked as he walked over to Dan, kissing his forehead gently.

Dan excitedly held up the book so Phil could see what he had been working on. “Something I came across a couple of days ago,” he happily exclaimed while tilting his head upwards, looking up at the other. ‘What are you doing back so soon?”

“School got let out early so I got to come home earlier than usual,” Phil answered with a smile. He looked at the book that Dan had shown him. Dan amazed him everyday with his art, and he loved watching Dan draw and paint. “Speaking of art… there’s something that I want, well- need, to ask you about.”

“What’s wrong?” Dan asked worriedly at Phil’s words, imagining the worst case scenarios. Phil never really was this serious about stuff, so that must mean it was something pretty important. But what would.or could, be so important he had to talk to Dan about it? It probably would be something school related, seeing as their personal life was going okay at the moment, so he could help himself when Phil uttered those words. 

“Don’t worry love, it’s nothing serious-” Phil said when he saw the worried look on Dan’s face. “Well, kind of. It’s school related. I know how much you love art and you’re so talented at it. I was thinking on the way home today, how you’re so good at teaching me art. And, something came up today. The art teacher quit because she moved. Do you think… you’d be interested in being the new art teacher at the high school?” he asked hopefully.

Dan’s mouth dropped wide open when he heard Phil’s words. Did he want to become a teacher? He had always hated school and everybody in it, so would it be a good thing to do? Of course he wanted to make his husband happy, but this was a big step to take. He did love to teach Phil stuff about art, so maybe it could be the same when he was in class? “I don’t know Phil… can you see me as a teacher?”

Phil bit his lip slightly as he stared at Dan, thinking for a few seconds to himself. “I really think I can. You’re just… such a natural at it. You have no problem when you teach me. I mean, teaching students is obviously a completely different story, but I think you’ll get used to it,” he smiled softly.

“Okay, I’ll do it!” Dan said with a small smile, glad that he could help Phil out. He could never say no to Phil, and this wasn’t an exception. And, not that he ever told anyone, he had always loved to teach. He loved to make others see the beauty he saw in art and life and teach them how they could recreate it.

Phil smiled, relieved that Dan actually agreed to this. He would have been screwed if Dan had said no. “Thank you so much Dan, this means a lot to me,” he said before he kissed Dan gently on the lips. “Will you be okay with starting on Monday? You can start with whatever you want.”

Dan grinned into the kiss, happy that he made Phil happy. “Monday, like….this monday?” He asked anxiously, hoping that the other was joking. This Monday was so soon, how could he be possibly ready to teach a class full of children in only a couple of days? knowing him he’d probably end up killing one of them on his first day if he came there unprepared. Phil couldn’t really expect him to start then, did he? 

Phil bit his lip slightly, knowing that sounded a little silly now that he had said it out loud. Dan would only have at least two days to prepare to start classes. He couldn’t ask that of Dan, especially since he’s never taught anything before.”I-I mean… I could try to get a sub for the first week to give you some time to prepare but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold it off. Art isn’t one of the main classes but I still need a teacher for it sooner rather than later,” he said.

“I think I’ll be okay to start in a week, just give me some time to find something interesting I can teach them about and to get used to the idea,” Dan reassured his husband’s when he saw how much the other was stressing about this. He knew that this was really hard for Phil as he really loves art and hated to disappoint his students. “I’m sure they will understand it, don’t worry too much about it.”

Phil sighed in relief, thankful that he had a husband like Dan. “You’re a life saver. Thank you,” he said before wrapping an arm around Dan and kissing his cheek. That was definitely a weight load off of his chest, and it was one less thing he had to worry about. Being a principal of a high school could definitely be stressful and this was something that he didn’t want to have to worry about. “So, what do you want to do for dinner?” Phil asked, smiling.

“Can we just order pizza? I’m not really feeling like cooking tonight,” Dan smiled at Phil, glad that the teacher thing was settled. “And, I just want to spend some time with you together,” he added to be extra cheesy, knowing how much Phil loved it when he said things like that. He couldn’t actually remember when they had been able to relax on a friday evening, so spending an evening would be the best way to calm both of these nerves about the coming stressful two weeks.

Phil grinned and nodded. “Pizza sounds perfect, and spending time with my favourite person in the world sounds even more perfect,” he said, kissing Dan again. “I’ll order the pizza. Do you want the usual?” He couldn’t wait to be able to relax with Dan, even if it was just for awhile.

“Yeah, sure.” Dan mumbled softly against Phil’s lips, not wanting him to go just yet. He reached his hand out and pulled Phil down next to him on the couch he had been sitting on, al while trying to keep their lips connected. “That’s for later though, stay with me for a while now.”

Phil smiled as Dan had pulled him down, and he immediately wrapped his arms around Dan and pulled him closer to him. “I’m perfectly okay with that,” he whispered before kissing Dan again. This was exactly what he loved to go home to after a long day of work, his husband.

***

Dan stared nervously into the mirror in front of him as he tried to judge his appearance. Was he looking appropriate enough to go stand in front of a classroom and teach? Should he wear a tie or not? With or without straight hair? Thousands of questions were running through his mind as he was preparing himself for the coming day. Who new that starting a new, real, job was going to be so stressful? The past days consisted of was paperwork and doing research on what he was going to talk about so he did not make any mistakes. He had no idea how Phil could manage his job, as he was almost going under now with his and he hadn’t even started yet.

Today was the day Dan was starting his first teaching job at the high school. To say Phil was nervous for him was an understatement. This was huge, but he knew that Dan was going to do so well and the students were going to love him… but maybe not as much as he loved him. The only other thing they had to worry about was coming out. They talked about it a little bit, but they still didn’t really have any solution for it… but it was better to deal with it sooner or later, and Phil didn’t want to have to hide his and Dan’s relationship while Dan worked at the school as well.

“Dan?” Phil asked as he knocked on the bathroom door. He was already dressed up and ready to go, and they would be leaving any minute now.

Dan looked up when he heard Phil call his name and turned his body towards the door, “Come in.” He tried to keep his voice as normal as possible, but with the building stress in his body that didn’t really succeed. He was hoping that today would go okay and he wasn’t going to mess things up, for himself and for Phil.

Phil took a deep breath and then he opened the door and stepped inside. He looked up and smiled a little when he saw Dan. “Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked as he walked over to him. He knew that Dan was nervous about starting his new job, neither of them got enough sleep last night which probably wasn’t good as they would be up for most of the day. Phil knew Dan was going to do great, no matter what. He’d surely get used to it after a few days of teaching.

Dan smiled at his husband reassuringly and pulled him into his arms, resting his head on Phil’s. “I’m okay, just a bit nervous,” he mumbled softly without letting go of the other, needing the feeling of Phil pressed against him to stay calm. He’d knew he would be nervous, just not that it would be this bad. He had almost not gotten any sleep, and he felt too nauseous to eat this morning. “What did you want?” he added, knowing that Phil would want to talk about something, otherwise he would most probably have left him alone to calm down.

“I just wanted to make sure that you were okay before we left,” Phil said. “And… I was thinking of how we could come out to everybody. What do you think about doing an assembly this morning before classes started?” Though it would probably make Dan even more nervous, being up in front of all those people but, Phil just thought that it would make things easier. He was up all night thinking of ways they could come out to the students and teachers.

“Uhm…yeah, okay,” Dan complied, his nerves only growing now. He hadn’t thought about the whole coming out thing before, mainly because he never had too. “I don’t really care about how we do it, it’s your choice,” he told Phil honestly. Phil was the principle, it was only logic that he would be the one that chose how to come out.

Phil slowly nodded and then he gently kissed Dan’s forehead. “I’ll send out a mass email to all the teachers then to let them know we’ll be doing an assembly. Don’t be so nervous, you’re going to be great, and everybody is going to love you,” he said, giving Dan a reassuring smile. “Let me know when you’re ready to leave, okay?” He kissed Dan once more before he turned around and walked out of the bathroom so Dan could have a little time for himself.

Dan smiled as he watched his husband leave the room and turned back to the mirror. “Come on Dan, you can do this. It’s just a couple of kids, nothing to be worried about,” he mumbled to himself reassuringly before he opened the tap and splashed some water in his face. He then dried of his face and stepped out of the bathroom in order to join Phil downstairs.

Phil sat on the couch, nervously waiting for Dan to come downstairs. They were leaving a bit earlier than usual so Dan could walk around the school if he wanted and get everything set up in the art room before students arrived. After a few minutes of waiting, he looked up when he heard footsteps and stood up as soon as he saw Dan walk into the living room. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Dan said, his voice a bit shaky from the nerves as he walked over to Phil and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I’m ready to go.” He tried to act as calm as possible while he was almost shaking on the inside. Today would go fine. He repeated that sentence over and over again until he almost believed it himself. he catched himself drifting off into thoughts so he looked up at Phil and smiled when he saw the understanding look in his eyes.

Phil smiled and then he walked over to Dan and kissed his forehead gently. “You’re going to do fine. Remember, you’ve got about an hour before school starts which should give you plenty of time to get organized into your classroom,” he mumbled. “Let’s get going, yeah?” He gently grabbed Dan’s hand and then he led the way out of the house and to the car, hoping and praying that today would go well. He hoped that everybody at the school would love Dan and support their relationship. Luckily Phil was the principal of the school so it wouldn’t even matter if everybody hated their relationship, as he made the rules.

“Yeah, okay,” Dan said, not really paying attention. there was a hint of curiousness in his mind. He had never been to Phil’s school before, so his mind was going wild with ideas on how it would look and how he could organise the room. Maybe he could put all the desk’s in a big U form? or maybe let everyone place their desks where they want? He didn’t really worry too much about the whole coming out part, he had never been to afraid to come out as who is is, and this time wouldn’t be any different.

***

After about a 15 minute drive, they finally arrived at the school. Phil led the way into the school, immediately turning on all the lights as he usually did, and then he took Dan to his classroom. “So, the assembly will be at 8:25am which gives us an hour to prepare before the madness starts. It’s 7:15 right now so I think that should give us enough time,” Phil said as he unlocked the door and opened it, flicking the lights on afterwards. Phil still had absolutely no idea what he was going to say at the assembly, and he was trying not to stress or panic over it. “Here’s your classroom,” Phil smiled as he looked over at Dan.

Dan grinned at Phil when the other opened the door to the room, patiently waiting until it was wide open and muttering a faint “That’s okay,” before hurrying inside, not being able to wait to see the room. It was big, bigger then the room he had had at his old school, and there were easels and art supplies everywhere. The walls were painted in different bright colors, and there was a projection screen on one of the walls. He loved the place immediately. It was so much nicer than what he had expected. He turned back the his husband and immediately hugged him in almost bone breaking embrace before mumbling, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity.” into his ear.

Phil chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Dan and hugged him tightly but gently. “Anything for you love,” he whispered before kissing his forehead. He looked down at him. “You can change the room however you want, okay? And don’t hesitate to ask me if you need anything.” He said with a smile. He wanted nothing but everything for his husband, and he knew how much Dan loved art so of course price didn’t matter to Phil when it came to him.

“You’re serious, I can do whatever I want with this room?” Dan asked, not believing Phil one bit. There must be some sort of guideline to how the classrooms must look. No school would just let the teachers do whatever they want to and it would seem like something there was a law for.

“Well, try not to go too crazy. Like, you can put posters up on the wall, rearrange the seatings, change your desk, and basic stuff like that. That’s what most of the teachers do anyways,” Phil explained. “Now, school starts at 7am but it doesn’t officially start until 7:15am which is when all of the students will be arriving in the classrooms… which is why I wanted to leave a little earlier. I can’t believe I’m this awake at 6am-” Phil laughed and shook his head. “But yeah.”

“Oh, so should I stay here in case any students come to this room? Also, could you give me my schedule? I want to know which class I have when for sure,” Dan asked Phil happily, getting more and more comfortable in the room, most of the nerves he had felt that morning had disappeared by now. “And I’ll think about what I can do to make this class look even better.”

“Oh yes, I have it right here-” Phil sat his suitcase that he was holding down on one of the desks and then he opened it and searched for Dan schedule, pulling it out once he found it. He turned to Dan and handed it to him. “Your first officially schedule,” he smiled. “Are you sure you’re okay with doing an assembly?” He asked, wanting to make sure Dan was okay with this. There would be a couple hundred students there, which was a lot, and he didn’t want Dan to get too overwhelmed or panic or anything like this… considering he was already nervous.

“I’m okay with it as long as I don’t have to say too much.” Dan answered truthfully. Just standing there would be okay, mostly, but he didn’t think it would be the best choice in the world to make him actually give a speech. “What exactly do you expect me to do during the assembly? Should we just make the whole room quiet and then kiss or what?” he asked, obviously joking about the last part. He would never have the balls to do something like that.

Phil laughed, obviously knowing that Dan was just joking. “Yeah totally. Kiss, make out and leave it like that?” he grinned and then he shook his head. “Nah. I won’t make you say much, just say hello and all that. I’ll introduce you as the art teacher and then explain our relationship and all that stuff. Should only take about ten minutes, maybe less than that,” Phil explained.

“Oh, okay, phew,” Dan said, a bit relieved, glad to hear that he wouldn’t have to do much. Though, now that they were talking about kissing, he actually wanted to kiss Phil, so he did. It caught the other by surprise Dan noticed when it took Phil some time to respond, but when he knew what had happening he started to kiss back, and it soon turned into a full blown makeout session. Dan genty bit Phil’s lower lip until the other opened his mouth, and happily licked into his mouth when he did.

Phil went to respond but was a little surprised when Dan had kissed him, though after a quick second he started kissing him back, thankful that they were the only two in the school at the moment, so a quick makeout session wouldn’t hurt anyone. Phil smiled and then he wrapped an arm around Dan and pulled him closer so they were nearly touching each other.

They were both a little out of breath by the time Dan decided to pull back, a trail of saliva connecting their mouths. “I’m looking forward to doing things like that a lot more often now that I’m working with you,” he joked happily. It was true though. Working with Phil meant spending more time together, which meant more time to kiss.

“Don’t give me any ideas mister,” Phil joked. He leaned forward and kissed Dan again before he pulled away, smiling as he looked down at him. “Before I get distracted… would you like to take a tour of the school? It’s two stories but I’m sure you’ll be spending most of your time down here.”

“Why not? I sure do have some,” Dan joked back, enjoying the careless happy feeling. He smiled when Phil kissed him again, kissing back immediately. When his husband pulled back and suggested to give him a tour he nodded, “Sure, it’ll Probably come handy someday to know my way around here.”

Phil laughed lightly, rolling his eyes playfully at his husband. “You’re going to get me in trouble,” he joked. He grabbed Dan’s hand and then he led the way out of the art classroom. “I’ll start with the teachers lounge ‘cos we’ll be spending a lot of time in there as well,” he said as he started leading the way towards the teachers lounge, which was thankfully rather big and fancy.

“I’d rather be with you in your office,” Dan playfully commented, but still followed Phil. “Will the other teachers expect me to be with them in the teacher’s lounge? ‘Cause I’d rather spend my free time in the class room alone, or with students that want to stay longer in order to finish projects,” he said seriously, hoping that they wouldn’t.

“Dan!” Phil laughed and shook his head. “You don’t necessarily have to be in the teachers lounge at all but, if you ever want coffee or snacks or anything like this… that’s where you go. Most teachers come here though to get away from students, especially on long days. But, I wouldn’t mind if you visited me in my office every once in awhile-” Phil smiled innocently as he looked at Dan. They reached the teachers lounge, Phil opened the door and allowed Dan to go in first.


	2. Chapter 2

Dan was just about to respond when Phil opened the door to what he supposed the teachers lounge was. Thinking that it probably wasn’t okay if he said what he had wanted he quickly shut his mouth and watched nervously as Phil mentioned for him to go in first. He did as he was told, though he did give Phil a glare when passing him, a bit mad for having to go in first and quickly looked down so he did not have to see the other teachers.

Phil was a little surprised when he saw that there were a few other teachers, not expecting to see them at school so early, though some did like to come early. “Oh, uh… good morning. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be in here-” He laughed nervously. “This is… Dan, he’ll be the new art teacher,” Phil said as he stepped beside Dan. He didn’t want to say anything about Dan being his husband just yet, he thought it’d be better to say it at the assembly.

Dan looked up when he heard Phil say something, silently glad he didn’t mention them being married yet, and gave the other teachers a little wave. He felt slightly uncomfortably under all the attention he was getting and though he knew he had to get used to it, he didn’t want to say anything while he was getting stared at. Knowing they wouldn’t just look away he moved a bit closer to where Phil was standing and kept his eyes on the floor.

Phil looked over at Dan, knowing that he probably wouldn’t see anything to the other teachers, and to get over any awkward moments, Phil spoke up again. “I’m just showing him around, so we won’t be long,” he said. He turned to Dan again, even though the other teachers were still staring at them. It’d been awhile since they’d had a new teacher. “So, this is basically just the teachers lounge, like I said before… where you can get some work done, or if you want to get coffee and snacks… let’s go to the office now…” he grabbed a hold of Dan and led him out of the teachers lounge, shutting the door behind him. “I didn’t know they’d be in there.”

Dan nodded as Phil explained what the room was for, not that he didn’t know that, and quickly followed him when he dragged him out of the room. Once the door was closed behind them he let out a breath he didn’t knew he had hold in and mumbled a quick “Thank you”, glad to be out of the room. The other teachers had seemed nice, it was just that he didn’t do well in social situations. He smiled when Phil apologist, and immediately responded, saying that it didn’t matter before asking, “So, what’s next on our little tour?”

“The office, since you’ll also be spending a lot of time there too, and not just because of me-” Phil laughed. He gently grabbed Dan’s hand and then he led the way to the main office. He didn’t think Dan would spend a lot of time upstairs, so he didn’t really have to show him anything, just the main spots downstairs. “This is the main office…” He decided to give Dan a few moments to look around, get used to everything, just in case.

The smile that formed on Dan’s lips when Phil mentioned him spending a lot of time in the office wasn’t innocent at all, and he quickly wiped it of his face when the other laughed, obviously knowing what he was thinking.

He looked around the room curiously, noticing that they were alone, and took in what was in the room, mainly just cupboards and a printer in one of the corners. When he was done he nodded towards Phil, letting him know he could go on.

Phil smiled as he watched Dan look around the office, and then he grabbed his hand again, holding onto it. “Okay, and now… for my office, which I love a lot, if I’m being honest,” he grinned and then he walked over to the door at the end, and opened it. He flicked on the lights. His office was quite big and fancy with a desk and couches, even a tv that he was able to buy for himself. He didn’t want to be too spoiled, but he did spend a lot of time in this office. “What do you think?” Phil asked, looking over at Dan once they had gotten in.

Dan’s mouth dropped open as soon as he set foot in Phil’s office. It was really big, bigger than he had expected. He could see himself spending his time here without a problem, especially on one of the couches lined up against the wall. He walked around the room, taking in every little detail he could before coming to his husband again and kissing him, not really knowing what to say.

Phil grinned as he watched Dan and saw his reaction, that was pretty much everybody’s reaction whenever they walked into his office, which sort of kind of made him feel proud, as he was really proud of how he made his office. He chuckled when Dan kissed him, not expecting it, though he didn’t hesitate to kiss him back. He wrapped his arms around Dan as they did kiss.

When Dan felt Phil’s arms wrap around his middle he leaned his body into the other, deepening the kiss. He enjoyed moment like this, when they were just kissing, not doing anything else. He had to pull back soon because he was out of breath, so he just stared into his husband’s eyes, a blush appearing on his cheeks when he thought about how this would be something normal now.

The smile on Phil’s face kept as he and Dan kissed, he just felt so lucky in this moment, to have Dan with him. Now they were going to be able to spend even more time together, since Dan would be working at the school now. Normally they would have to go eight hours without seeing each other, which was just horrible, for both of them. “I love you,” Phil whispered as he stared at Dan, letting out a sigh of content.

“I love you too,” Dan whispered back, letting his forehead rest against Phil’s. “How long do we have?” Dan asked Phil quietly, hoping they still had some time. He wasn’t ready yet to go out here to tell everybody. What would they think? He hoped that the students would still respect him, even when they knew he was gay. He knew Phil had been accepted right away, but still.

“Half an hour,” Phil replied. “Until school starts that is. Students arrive at 7, it’s only 6:30 right now so we still have a little bit of time. Would you like to get settled into your classroom while you have a little bit of time?” he asked, resting his hands on Dan’s waist, pecking his lips again.

“Thats okay, you want to come with me?” he responded, hoping he would. He had tons of ideas he wanted to do, like changing the desks and hanging up the posters he had brought with him, and he knew he could use Phil’s help with preparing everything.

Phil smiled and nodded. “Of course I want to. I don’t have anything important to do at the moment anyways, even if I did… I would still probably go with you-” he said. Though he was joking a little, he was still telling the truth. Dan came first before anything, even his job.

“Okay, lead the way?” Dan asked because he, for some reason, couldn’t remember the way back to his classroom. He took a step back and waited for his husband to start walking, quickly following him when he did.

Phil nodded, and then he gently let go of Dan and grabbed his hand. He led the way back to the art classroom, shutting the door once they were both in… just in case, they had to be a little careful for the time being since there were other teachers in the building, as they didn’t know that Dan and Phil were actually married. Phil looked back over at Dan and smiled at him.

“I know what you’re thinking, but no.” Dan laughed at Phil, “I actually do have to get his room ready, but maybe there’s time for making out if we hurry.” He walked further into the room and put down his things near his desk, mentioning for Phil to follow him, before taking out some of the posters and handing them to the other, “Can you start hanging these up?”

Phil laughed. “What? Pfft. That’s totally not what I was thinking!” he smiled innocently as he followed Dan into the classroom. “Of course. Do you care where they’re hung or does it not matter?” he asked as he looked around the classroom. The art room was quite big, bigger than most classrooms, so there was plenty of places Dan could decorate, which was nice.

‘Doesn’t matter,” Dan said, flashing Phil a smile, “Only, you should try to hang them as straight as possible.” When he had explained to Phil what he should do he turned to his own work. After some time of just looking at the desks he decided on how they should be standing, stepping forward to arrange the desks and seats. The whole thing was harder that he had thought, and before he knew it he could feel sweatdrops form on his forehead.

Phil nodded, smiling at Dan before he grabbed the poster’s and started hanging them up on the walls, making sure to spread them out so they weren’t clustered together, and also making sure that they were as straight as possible as Dan requested. Once he was finished, he looked over at Dan and chuckled when he saw him. “Do you need any help, love?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” Dan puffed, getting more and more out of breath with each desk he rearranged. He had no idea his condition had been this bad, and now he was getting the full effect of it. He looked at his husband thankfully, mentioning for him to come help with the desk he was currently moving.

Phil walked over to Dan and started helping Dan move the desks wherever he wanted them to be moved. “Is that better?” he asked, smiling as he looked over at Dan. The room was already looking better than it did before. Phil knew that Dan would most likely treat this classroom as if it was his own home, which was one of the many things that Phil loved about him.

“Much better,” Dan smiled, thankful for the help he was getting. With Phil helping him the task was done in no time, leaving them with enough time to do something else. Dan stepped towards the other, who had turned his back towards him and was observing the class, and kissed Phil’s neck while circling his arms around his middle.

A smile formed on Phil’s face as soon as he felt Dan kissing him, he immediately turned around and then he wrapped his arms around Dan and gently pulled him closer, before leaning down and kissing him. “I love you,” he whispered when he pulled away from the kiss. “A lot.”

“I love you too,” Dan whispered back, resting his forehead against Phil’s. He stared at his husband for some time like that, getting lost in his eyes and just thinking about how beautiful the other was, and how lucky he was to have gotten this opportunity.

The smile on Phil’s face grew as he continued to stare at Dan; he was super happy that Dan agreed to doing this job, because it meant that they could spend more time together, kind of, and they would be able to see each other. Phil knew that Dan was nervous about being a teacher, but Phil also knew that Dan was going to be a great teacher, despite his nervousness.

Dan felt himself grow confident about today, his nerves had almost disappeared by now and the only thing he could do was stare at Phil with a loving look in his eyes. “Do you think they’ll like me?” he asked, just for the assurance. He needed to hear the words one time again. He knew Phil was going to say they would, he was sweet like that, and Dan was extremely grateful for that.

Phil chuckled. “Of course they’ll like you, they’ll love you! Maybe not as much as I love you, but they’ll definitely love you. They’d be crazy if they didn’t, because you’re amazing,” he said with a smile. He gently kissed Dan again. “I just hope I know what I’m going to say at the assembly when I introduce you to everyone. I never planned out a speech,” he rolled his eyes playfully.

“You’ll do fine, you always do,” Dan said, meaning every word. Phil was blessed with the ability to convince everybody to believe him and back him up, making speeches extremely easy for him. “Don’t worry about that,” he said, smirking a little, “Can we just make out until it’s time?”

Phil grinned at Dan’s question, he glanced over at the clock and saw that they had at least a half an hour before school started, which would give them plenty of time for a quick make out session. This honestly felt like they were back in school again, when they would hide in the bathrooms or in the classrooms so they could make out before the teachers caught them and gave them a detention. “I was hoping you would ask that,” Phil whispered before leaning in to kiss Dan, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him closer.

***

With every passing second Dan got more nervous. They were standing outside the building where all the student were waiting for them, passing time and preparing themselves for the actual speech. They had decided that Dan wouldn’t say much, just his name and which class he would be teaching, and that Phil would explain the rest. Dan rested his head on Phil’s shoulder and sighed, wishing for time to go slower.

Phil gently wrapped his arm around Dan and kissed his forehead. He knew that Dan was nervous about this whole thing, and he had every right to be. It was like coming out to their family and friends all over again. But Phil was confident that his students and teachers were going to be supportive of their relationship and that they would love Dan for who he was. Besides, Phil had made it clear that he was very supportive of gay people so everybody knew better than to bully others for being gay. “Everything’s going to be alright, I promise,” he whispered.

“How can you know that so sure?” Dan whispered back worriedly. He really didn’t know how Phil could stay so calm. A high school that wasn’t totally homophobic was almost unheard of, and Dan had no idea what would make this school so different. He new that Phil was already outed, but as he was the principle nobody could do something, while Dan was going to be a teacher, meaning that that other teachers could still ‘bully’ him in some sort of way, and the kids might not have any respect for him anymore.

Whilst Phil looked totally calm on the outside, he was definitely freaking out on the inside. He knew things might not go to plan, and people might not completely love Dan or support their relationship, he still had hope. There was hardly any bullying at this school, and when there was, Phil would make sure to do something about it. Same thing would go with Dan. Dan had a passion for art and he would be a great teacher that deserved respect, no matter what his sexuality was. “I’ll do and say whatever I can to make sure nothing goes wrong,” he whispered before gently kissing Dan’s forehead. He glanced at the clock and saw it was time. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, taking a deep breath.

Dan tensed up at the words but still nodded, “As ready as I’ll ever be.” His voice was a bit shaky, but he managed to keep his body language confident, determined not to let the others know how nervous he was. He reached out, taking Phil’s had in his and stepping closer the him, searching every bit of comfort he could, and mentioned for Phil to take the lead inside.

“Remember, you don’t have to say much if you don’t want to. You can just do a quick introduction and then leave the rest to me, okay? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable out there,” Phil whispered as he held onto Dan’s hand. He knew Dan must have been freaking out, and he didn’t blame him at all. Phil was freaking out just as much. It was a scary thing.

“I think I’m going to do that,” Dan answered, his voice shaking with nerves, “I don’t think I’ll be able to do much else.” He followed close behind phil as the other stepped forward and into the building, all confidence and not a trace of nervousness, and if Dan didn’t know his husband as well as he did then he would never have guessed that Phil was even a bit scared for the reactions they would get.

Phil closed his eyes for a moment before he finally walked inside the gym with Dan, where all the other students and teachers were waiting. Phil quickly told Dan to wait by the door so he could properly introduce him to the students. Phil smiled as he glanced up at the students before walking over to the microphone before finally speaking. “So, I”m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve brought you here for this assembly. I promise it won’t take long, 10 minutes at the latest. But… we have a new teacher, a new art teacher. It’s his first time teaching but I’m sure he’ll do great, anyways… not many of you know this, but I’m sure some of you know that I… am gay. And, I also happen to have a husband, who also happens to be your new art teacher. And I’d like to introduce him to you so, please welcome Dan Howell,” Phil smiled as he looked over at Dan and motioned him to come over next to him so that he could speak for a moment.

Dan smiled as he watched his husband stand in front of his students, carefully choosing his words and announcing that Dan would take over. He did it perfectly and at that moment he truly seemed a if he belonged their. It caught Dan a bit of guard, and so he was startled when he saw phil look at him expectantly, waiting for him to come on. Dan looked up apologetically and took a few steps forward until he was stood next to Phil and in front of the kids that would soon be his students. In an act of bravery he looked Phil in the eyes before linking their hands together and took the microphone from him before saying, “Hey, so…. my name is Daniel Lester, but please just call me Dan.” This caused a laugh to come from his audience and gave him the confidence to continue. “Like Phil said I’ll be taking over as art teacher this year, and I’m looking forward to meeting those of you who will be taking my classes,” with this he stepped back and gave Phil space to finish his speech.

Phil smiled as he listened to Dan speak to the students, and he felt very proud at that moment because he knew how scared and nervous Dan could be with talking in front of large crowds. Phil stepped back in front of the microphone to speak again. He was pleased to see that a lot of the students were smiling and some had even applaud for Dan after he was done speaking. “So you can see why this assembly was so important to me. I’m sure that Dan will be a great art teacher, and I’m sure that you’ll all love him, almost as much as I do-” he joked. “Alright, I won’t keep you any longer. You’ve all classes to be getting to. Enjoy your day!” he sighed in relief when the students started getting out of their seats, he looked over and saw that some of the other teachers were already talking to Dan and welcoming him, which made him feel happy and relieved for Dan.

Dan was talking to some of the other teachers when he saw Phil step towards him out of the corner of his eye. He smiled and politely told the others he had to go before turning towards Phil and kissing him full on the lips, only pulling away to whisper a soft, “I’m so proud of you,” against his lips.

Phil smiled as he kissed Dan back, though he could feel his cheeks turning bright red, as there were still some people that were watching them. When Dan pulled away, Phil looked down at him, and shook his head. “Me? I’m so proud of you. I know how nervous you were before to get up there in front of all those students and the teachers. I wanted to keep it short so that you wouldn’t have to stay very long. I’m just… so happy that we won’t have to hide our relationship like most gay couples would,” Phil said, smiling before pulling Dan into a warm hug.

“I’m happy about that too, now I’m really looking forward to my first day,” Dan exclaimed happily, almost jumping with excitement. At first he had been a bit hesitant about becoming a teacher, but now that he saw for himself how accepting this school was he started to look forward to it. “Now, what do you think about helping me set up my new classroom?”


End file.
